1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to collection systems for lawn and garden tractors, including riding mowers and the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to a mower discharge chute assembly which receives the discharge from the mower and collects the discharge in a hopper or other enclosure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Grass catchers or bagging attachments have long been available for mowers, including walk behind and riding power mowers. The present riding mowers include a hopper enclosure at the rear of the mower and a chute between the mower and the hopper. Plastic chuting is preferred because it is light in weight, strong and easily molded to the desired configuration. In the simplest form, the chute is simply a tubular plastic member which extends from the mower blade housing to the cover of the hopper as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,401. Single chute molded configurations have also been suggested by the prior art as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,961,467 and 3,974,631. The single section chute has, however, several disadvantages. The chute is often difficult to remove and the collection system often clogs with grass clippings, debris, etc. Further, the improved rotary mowers include a vertically adjustable blade housing to adjust the cut of the mower and single chute collection systems have not been satisfactory for adjustable mowers.
The more recent collection systems include three generally cylindrical telescopic chute sections and, in some embodiments, an extension on the blade housing. U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,392 discloses a three-piece discharge chute assembly wherein the center section is removable for cleaning. In order to clean the chute assembly, the operator must generally reach into the horn of the blade housing to pull out grass plugs and other debris, which is unsatisfactory from a safety consideration. Bolted or permanently secured chute sections have also been unsatisfactory because of the difficulty in removing the sections for cleaning, etc.
The mower discharge chute assembly of this invention solves many of the problems of the prior art by using two telescopically assembled chute sections which may be easily removed and which guide the discharge from the mower in a spiral path through the chute into the hopper. The upper section is pivotally supported in the hopper opening and the lower section is fixed to the blade housing, providing automatic adjustment of the chute assembly as the blade housing is adjusted vertically.